Photo of exploded iPhone is not from 2024 Lebanon attacks

Hundreds of walkie-talkies exploded in Lebanon on Sept. 18, a day after thousands of pagers used by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah blew up. Despite what social media users have said, iPhones were not among the devices targeted in the attacks.

U.S. officials said Israel was behind the walkie-talkie and pager attacks that targeted Hezbollah members, although Israel has not publicly taken responsibility. The explosions killed at least 37 people, including 2 children, and injured more than 3,000 others. 

“iPhones exploding in Lebanon blowing up random people,” said an X post accompanied by what looks like an exploded iPhone.

Screenshot of X post

Another X user posted the same image of the iPhone alongside video footage from a mobile shop in Lebanon where a hand-held radio exploded, with the caption, “New batches of electronic devices: iPhones, Notebooks – are exploding right in the stores.”

But the image of the damaged iPhone is not from the Lebanon attacks. Using a reverse image search, we found the image in a 2021 article about an iPhone explosion in a suburb of Cairo, Egypt.

Credible news reports about the exploding devices in Lebanon did not mention iPhones.

We reached out to Apple spokespeople to ask if there has been any evidence that iPhones or other Apple devices exploded during attacks in Lebanon, but did not receive a response.

We rate the claim “iPhones exploding in Lebanon blowing up random people,” False.